Review and photos by Tony Taft.
Today we had an attendance of 18 with 5 apologies.
We had no new members and no guests.
Todays speaker was Jim Redman and his talk was about one of this countries greatest engineers Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel the only son of the engineer and inventor Marc Isambard Brunel was appointed resident engineer when work on the Thames tunnel began and under his fathers direction it started in 1825.
He held the post until 1828 when there was a collapse of the tunnel and Brunel suffered injury and while Brunel recovered the project came to a standstill for seven years.
It was during this period that Isambard prepared designs for the Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol, an incredible landmark that still stands as strong today as the day it was built
(I have always wanted to go over the bridge but have never had the opportunity, I have been under it many times)
Jim also talked at great length about other great achievements that Isambard worked on too many to write about in this review so I will list a few.
Paddington station 1852, the Great West Railway, the Royal Albert bridge 1855 – 1859 over the Tamar in Plymouth.
Then there were his ships The Great Eastern and in 1836 The Great Western which still exists in Bristol today a great attraction you should make the effort to visit, launched in 1843.
I have only scratched the surface of all of Isambard’s achievements, the man could have more than one project on at the same time, the accuracy of his measurements, and all at a time when there was no such thing as a computer or iPad, it was all worked out in his head, and I really think a computer could not have done any better.
It was pointed out that when his atmospheric railway on the Great Western Railway was operational you could travel between Newton Abbot and Exeter quicker than you can today, it was only when rats developed a taste for the fat he used to try to seal the pipes that it was decided to discontinue this form of railway.
We all enjoyed Jim’s talk, when you think you know all there is to know about a subject you realise there is always something you did not know and we found his talk fascinating
I have not written about all of the properties in this area that Brunel is associated with, it’s just too much to put in this review, but you probably know of some, Jim lives in one of these properties and has a blue plaque on his wall.
Tony Taft 18Sept2024
Paignton Probus Club 